Heart of Gold
by ZeCheeseCake
Summary: Golden Fleck is devastated when her younger brother, Little Bounce is down with a sickness that is very expensive to cure. Sailing to an island that promises gold- and a cure- Golden Fleck is stranded on an island after being overthrown. Will she cope with the battle against the forces of nature?


**_Author's note: Hi guys! This is my first My Little Pony fan-fic, and I really hope that you like it. Yes, this will take place before Nightmare Moon, but after the events of Discord's first appearance. Yes, the main character will be my OC. Reviews and Constructive critique are appreciated._**

**_DISCLAIMER: I do not own My Little Pony (FiM) or any of the canon characters. They all belong to Hasbro. I do, however, own my OC's. _**

* * *

_It was very dark outside. Rain pounded against the salty waters of the ocean. The waves crashed violently against one another. Lightning clawed through the black sky, followed by a roar of thunder. _

_In the midst of the chaos, a lonely pony was struggling underwater. No matter how much she tried to reach the surface, the waves only collided again, causing her to fling helplessly under the churning sea. _

_Her heart was pounding, just as her lungs felt like they were shriveling with pain. It took the poor pony's effort to swim back up, while the water tormented her cruelly. Finally, her head broke into the surface. Rain shot down at her like bullets as she fought to regain air. _

_However, just as she was about to breathe again, a wave tussle over the pony, sending her down into the deep and dark abyss. 'This is it', she muttered quietly as she allowed herself to float peacefully underwater. Darkness crawled in her vision, and her lungs hurt so much that they suddenly became numb. Her whole body numbed out, and everything went black._

* * *

Golden Fleck shot up from her bed with a light shriek of fright. Cold beats of sweat formed on the corners of her scalp, dripping down on her cheeks.

After a minute of regaining oxygen from her realistic nightmare, the green Pegasus threw her shiny yellow sheets off of her bed and trotted to the window. Her curtains were firmly draped closed, shrouding her bedroom in darkness. As soon as she drawn her curtain, bright light streamed through the window, blinding the pony for a second.

When her vision adjusted to the outside world, Golden Fleck sighed with relief. Milky white sunlight poured through the small kingdom of Canterlot. Small, wooden houses surrounded a mighty castle that stood tall on top of a hill. A river flowed through the land, spilling into a giant lake just beyond the kingdom. Snow blanketed all over the place, glistening under the sun's rays.

Widening the blinds, Golden Fleck trotted to her wardrobe and pulled out a few warm clothes before walking out of her door. Then, she turned to the right, where another door was. She raised her hoof and tapped on the door softly, followed by a quiet muffle. Inching her way through, the green Pegasus glided inside, where it was very dark just like her dream.

Lying on the bed was a little filly. He was quite thin for his age, and his face was puffy red, with purple bags encircling his eyes. Golden Fleck plastered a sad smile as she walked towards her little brother, her only family left.

"How are you feeling, Little Bounce?" she asked, feeling his forehead, which was hot as flames.

"Fine, I guess." The filly replied, breaking into a serious of rasping coughs. Golden's heart wrenched at the pitiful sight.

She handed Little Bounce a glass of water that was sitting nearby. The filly grabbed the glass and drank hungrily in one gulp and placed it down. Little Bounce wiped his mouth with his strong hoof, and then sniffed.

"Well, I'll be fixing breakfast. I'll be back." Golden Fleck promised, backing away into the hallway.

Her younger, Little Bounce had come down with a terrible disease only a few weeks ago. At first it was only a minor cold, but then it transformed into a deadly flu. Now, he was stuck in bed, too weak to even get up from his bed. Golden Fleck was desperate. She needed to find a cure and fast, before only Celestia knows what will happen to the poor filly.

Heating up the kettle, Golden Fleck took out a few things from the storage box and stirred them in a bowl, then dumped them in the cup, allowing it to dissolve into edible stew.

The Pegasus then returned to her brother's room, watching him as he ate his soup. Golden Fleck felt deeply saddened by the efforts that it was taking for Little bounce to eat a couple of bites. After a few clumsy spoonful's, Little Bounce put the soup down and curled up in his bed.

For a few minutes, Golden Fleck watched as her brother fell into a deep sleep. Judging by his loud snores and short breaths, he would be asleep for a long time.

Bundling in her purple scarf that matched her eyes, Golden Fleck glided towards the front doors, which lead her into the sunlight. As soon as she entered the outside world, a cold breeze swept over the pony, causing her to shiver. She closed the door behind her, and then ran. She ran as fast as she could until she lifted herself up into the sky.

* * *

At that moment, another Pegasus was flying through the clouds, her dark blue mane spiking up above her pink face. Golden Fleck immediately recognized who she was just by her Cutie marks, which were two indigo lightning bolts.

With a smile, she waved. When the other Pegasus had noticed her, she zipped towards her friend within a second.

"Hey, Goldie! Long time, no see." She greeted as she reached her.

"It's been a long time, Firefly." Golden Fleck agreed.

"How's your little brother?" Firefly asked.

The question caused Golden Fleck's short happiness to sweep away just like the scuttling clouds.

"He's fine… I guess." She repeated the words that her brother had told her this morning.

"You're feeding him soup like I told you, right?" Said Firefly, her eyes narrowed.

Golden Fleck nodded, "Yeah, I just fed him this morning."

The pink Pegasus smiled. "That's good." She said, facing the Canterlot that came to view as the thin mist cleared away.

Silence fell between the two ponies for a minute, quiet with nothing but the wind blowing fiercely against their flanks. Suddenly, Firefly turned towards Golden Fleck.

"You really need to find a cure." She said.

"I know, but it's too costly!" Golden Fleck snapped with annoyance.

"Jeez, just trying to state the obvious." Firefly retorted bluntly.

"Yeah," Golden Fleck muttered, "but stating the obvious isn't going to help anything."

"Neither is wallowing up in self-pity!" Firefly raised her arms up with anger, causing Golden Fleck to wince.

After calming down for a minute, Firefly seemed to return to normal.

"Sorry." She apologized. "It's just you've acted so… Depressed lately."

"I know." Golden Fleck nodded her head.

It was true, Golden Fleck had been more sad than usual ever since her brother became sick. She'd been hiding in a shell for the last six weeks, not letting Anypony in unless it was Firefly, her only best friend.

* * *

Soon, the ponies began flying once again, gazing down at the small little earth ponies and unicorns down there, chatting or happily strolling. Golden Fleck wished that she was one of those ponies; act like everything is normal, when really her personal life is shattering her heart bit by bit.

Then, something huge caught her eyes. She glanced down and parked at the dock was a huge boat. It was brightly colored rustic, with curls of gold plastered on the paint. At the base of the front, floated a huge Merpony; a mythical creature told for many generations.

"Firefly, look at that!" Golden Fleck exclaimed, catching her friend's attention. Firefly turned forward, and a huge grin creased her pink cheeks.

"I forgot to tell you. A boat had been at dock." She explained.

"Since when?" Golden Fleck asked.

"Since last night!" Firefly replied. "That boat is called the S.S Merpony. She's a real beauty."

Golden Fleck's eyes widened with amazement. Her purple irises sparked for the first time in a month.

"You should have seen the sailors!" Firefly boasted. "They're some cuties."

"Thanks," Golden Fleck said, "But, I don't have time for a stallion."

Firefly gave her a playful glare, then slapped her shoulder with her wing, "Hey, I did not say that I wanted you to date Somepony. I only said how cute they were. What's wrong with that?"

Golden Fleck shrugged, laughing.

"Why are they here for anyway?" she asked.

"They're trying to hire some more crew to join them. Claimed that they're cruising for some gold," Firefly explained, gazing at the boat stirring in the wind.

Golden Fleck hummed, then asked,"Are mares allowed?"

"Maybe," Firefly shrugged. "I don't know."

Goldie stared down at the curious ponies surrounding the ship, giving the sailors a few looks as they clambered down unto the deck.

Then, an idea sparked in her head. It was brilliant, but also very foolish. However, she kept her mouth shut. Firefly couldn't find out about this, at least not now.

"Well, I best be going. This morning session has made me hungry!" Firefly said, floating away. "I'll catch ya later, Goldie!" She called out from the distance.

"Bye!" Golden Fleck called back, but Firefly was already gone, disappearing in the clouds.

* * *

**Author's note: Well, here you go! My first chapter. I will be updating pretty soon (I have plenty of time, I'm just too lazy). Maybe in a few days? I don't know. I'm still working on the Coraline Fan-fic. More will be coming soon! **


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